REGISTRATIONS of new light commercial vehicles for the year are up by more than 6% compared to the same period last year. Figures for January to April show most major countries contributed positively to the 6.6% increase to 688,572 units from 645,738 units.

They include Spain (+17.9%), France (+5.4%), UK (+4.6%), Germany (+2.5%) and Italy (+0.1%).

A spokesman for the European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association, which produced the figures, said: ‘Increases in year-to-date registrations were also reported in a majority of the smaller markets ranging from +30.9% in Denmark to 9.3% in Greece. In contrast, the Netherlands (-16.5%), Finland (-6.5%) and Portugal (-2.9%) reported drops in sales.’